


Where the Love Light Gleams

by Stahlop



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: A little bit of angst, Captain Swan 3a canon divergence, Captain Swan Secret Santa 2019 (Once Upon a Time), Christmas, F/M, Secret Santa, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21946894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stahlop/pseuds/Stahlop
Summary: When Pan's curse doesn't happen, Emma decides that organizing a Christmas Extravaganza is the best way to avoid dealing with her feelings concerning Neal and Hook.
Relationships: Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan
Comments: 18
Kudos: 107
Collections: CSSECRETSANTA2k19, The Great Captain Swan No-Curse Renaissance





	Where the Love Light Gleams

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scientificapricot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scientificapricot/gifts).



> Hello ScientificApricot! I'm your Secret Santa! I've enjoyed talking with you, and I hope you enjoy this piece of Captain Swan canon divergence that I have written.
> 
> And a huge thanks to profdanglais and recoveringthesatellites for being my betas and helping me work through the ending.

It has been such a whirlwind of a day. Pan’s curse was on its way. Emma’s car was packed. Hook told her he’d think of her every day and she flirted back, thinking it really wouldn’t matter. The curse cloud was practically on top of them, and then Regina kissed Henry goodbye, and before the curse could even reach them, a rainbow of true love exploded around them and the curse ended before it could even begin.

A strange calm surrounds all the Storybrooke residents. Emma and Henry look around to see confusion on everyone's faces.

“Did you just stop Pan’s curse with a True Love’s Kiss?” Mary Margaret squeaks out in disbelief. Regina looks just as shocked as Mary Margaret.

“I...I think so?” Emma has never heard Regina sound so surprised. Regina is always the one in control, even when she isn’t. She’s never seen her so vulnerable.

“Mom!” Henry exclaims, surging into Regina and giving her a hug. Emma smiles, happy that she didn’t have to take Henry away from everything he’s ever known. Happy that she didn’t have to leave her family. Happy that… oh shit! 

Emma looks at the faces of all her loved ones that had come down to the town line to say goodbye on this crisp fall day, and she sees both Neal and Hook staring at her, almost as if they’re expecting some sort of response from her now that the curse didn’t happen. She’s going to have to deal with Neal and Hook now, isn’t she? Dammit!

“Hey guys, I’m going to drive back to town and assess if there’s any damage. Mary Margaret, why don’t you come with me.” Emma says abruptly as she quickly hops into her yellow bug. Mary Margaret follows her, confused, into the passenger seat, moving some of Henry’s comic books that he’d packed for the ride. Emma can see David looks perplexed as he is technically her deputy, so it would make sense for him to go with her and not Mary Margaret. She backs the car up slowly, making sure not to hit anyone, turns the car around, slams her foot on the accelerator, and heads toward town.

The second the small group is just a dot in the rearview, Mary Margaret places her hand over Emma’s on the gear shift. “Emma?” She asks tentatively, “Are you all right?”

“I…” Emma starts, but she doesn’t even know what to say to Mary Margaret. Does she talk to her as her mother or her friend? Those are two totally different conversations. She’s been struggling with that balance ever since the curse broke and she’s had to come to terms with the fact that her parents are the same age as her, which, god, was that only a few months ago? It feels like it’s been years. 

But Mary Margaret, true love believer extraordinaire, guesses correctly on the first try what is bothering Emma.

“This is about Neal and Hook, isn’t it?” she asks slowly. Emma should talk with her about this. Isn’t that what mothers and daughters do-- talk about boys? But she’s not there yet. Instead, she thinks of something else they can talk about.

“Do you celebrate Christmas?” Emma asks out of the blue. Halloween had happened while they were in Neverland. Henry was upset that he was basically dead on the holiday. He’d been excited to finally celebrate it since it had never happened during the curse. Thanksgiving was right around the corner and plans were already underway for dinner at the loft, despite the lack of dining room space.

Mary Margaret frowns at the sudden change of topic, but realizes this is a battle she isn’t going to win. “Well, we certainly know what it is. It’s in our memories from being cursed. Have we actually ever celebrated it? I don’t think so. We should have when you first came here, when the curse was starting to break and time started to move again, but then Graham died and we didn’t.”

Emma considers this. Mary Margaret is right, they should have celebrated Christmas when she first came to town. They celebrated Valentine’s Day a few months after Graham’s death, but there were no festivities for Christmas. No grand tree lighting in the town square, no shops decorated for the holiday. There was nothing to even suggest it was Christmastime. Graham’s death wasn’t even an excuse; it just wasn’t celebrated. 

“I think we should do something big for Christmas this year. After everything that’s happened, we need something to lift everyone’s spirits.” Emma says, surprised at her own words. Christmas has never been an important holiday for her. It just happens around her. Living in foster or group homes for most of her life, she never got the presents she wished for. Usually she got the essentials: pairs of socks, underwear, maybe a new pair of shoes if the family was really nice. But this year she has a family, this year she has a community, and this year she’s going to have to deal with Henry’s father and the man who claims that he will win her heart, and she needs a good distraction.

Mary Margaret’s face lights up like... a Christmas tree. Emma should have known that Mary Margaret would be on board. Despite the fact that she almost had to stay in Neverland indefinitely because of David’s brush with Dreamshade, and that she almost lost Emma again due to Pan’s curse (damn, she was almost separated from her family twice in less than two weeks), she’s still as optimistic as ever. 

“I think that’s a lovely idea, Emma!” Mary Margaret practically squeals in delight. “As long as you and I can plan things together?” she asks hopefully.

Emma smiles a genuine smile at Mary Margaret then looks back at the road. They have reached Storybrooke proper and it looks just like they left it when they headed out to the town line only an hour ago. As if the curse never even started to happen. Emma parks the car in front of the sheriff’s station and turns to Mary Margaret. “I’d love to plan a Storybrooke Christmas with you.” she says. And the funny thing is, she actually means it.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
  


Emma Swan has always been good at avoiding people. Avoiding drunk foster parents, avoiding teachers, avoiding police. She was really good at blending in so she wouldn’t be noticed, which was really helpful as a bail bonds person. But being the Savior and the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming make the avoidance of people much harder. Especially when it comes to Neal (who taught her many of those avoidance tactics) and Hook (open book as he would say). She tries to busy herself with planning the biggest Christmas celebration ever, but they both seem to find her every day.

“You’ve got to eat, Emma.” Neal whines for the third day in a row. He’s been trying to do a family lunch with her and Henry ever since the Curse that Wasn’t (as it’s being called in town). 

“Neal,” Emma says through gritted teeth, “I don’t know how many times I need to remind you of this, but I am the sheriff. I have things to do. Henry is at school, and I will not pull him out just because you want to have lunch with him.” She continues to walk past him, hot chocolate in hand, towards the sheriff’s station, where she hopes to hide herself in paperwork. She’s convinced David to take any of the calls that might come in while she’s taken on the task of digitizing all the files (because they are in the 21st century, regardless of how old the computers are; she also mentally makes a note to upgrade their computers at some point). Neal doesn’t follow her, thank goodness, and she settles herself at her desk, ready to tackle old files and her Storybrooke Christmas Extravaganza (as Mary Margaret has dubbed it) list. Which is, of course, when Hook walks in.

The prospect of almost losing her seems to have made Hook lose some of his trademark swagger. Oh, he’s still good with an innuendo here and there, but he almost seems humbled by the fact that Emma is still in his life and he didn’t have to part with her by going back to the Enchanted Forest. And then, of course, there’s the fact that she really wants to kiss him again, which is why she’s avoiding him. It’s hard to avoid someone when they casually walk into your place of business though.

“If you’re not here to report some kind of incident, please leave,” Emma says a bit forcefully.

“Actually,” he says, producing a greasy bag that smells delicious from behind his back, “I brought you lunch.” He smiles triumphantly as he sets the bag down on the desk, careful not to get it near any of her paperwork. “Grilled cheese, just the way you like it.” Emma opens the bag and sees a grilled cheese sandwich plus onion rings from Granny’s.

“I know you tend to forget to eat when you’re working.” He gives what Emma supposes is a wink, before he starts to head back out the door.

“You’re not joining me?” she asks incredulously. He turns back to look at her.

“You look like you have a lot on your plate, Swan. I didn’t want to be in your way.” He gives a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes, and then leaves.

Well, now. How is she supposed to work after that?

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It continues like that for the rest of November. Neal trying to get Emma to do anything with him and Hook just being there for her. It’s a testament to how different these two men are. Neal is still the selfish bastard that he has always been. If Henry isn’t available on his terms then he tends to throw a fit about it. Even Regina notices it which eventually gets Emma to confess all of Neal’s past misdeeds toward her. Considering the awful things Regina did as the Evil Queen, she’s appalled at how much of an ass Neal was… is. She refuses to let Henry see Neal when he’s staying with her, which Neal accuses Emma of orchestrating somehow.

Thanksgiving is a complete disaster with Neal and Regina coming to blows over Henry. Emma isn’t sure why Mary Margaret and David thought it would be a good idea. Maybe they watched too many YouTube videos of the perfect Thanksgiving dinner, but hosting a dinner that includes a variety of former enemies (Regina and Gold, and by extension, Belle, were all invited by Henry) couldn’t be anything but a catastrophe.

“Henry is my son!” Neal shouts as Regina says no to another request to have him stay over at his apartment that weekend.

“More mashed potatoes anyone?” Mary Margaret says, trying to defuse the tension.

“You didn’t even know he existed until a few months ago!” Regina says rudely. She is refusing to get into a screaming match during Thanksgiving. Emma can see how she is working to control not only her temper, but her magic. Little flares of fire sparking at her fingertips that only Emma seems to notice. Emma can see Belle trying to tame Gold’s temper as well, reminding him that Neal is a grown man and can fight his battles.

“Cranberry sauce?” Mary Margaret tries again.

“That’s not my fault!” Neal yells back at her, his face practically purple with rage. “Emma, tell her that’s not my fault!” Neal pleads.

She’s been trying to hold it in. She really has. With the exception of Regina, no one knows much about her’s and Neal’s past. Just that they were together and then somehow apart when she went to jail and found out she was pregnant. No one has ever asked why Neal didn’t know. No one has asked why she lied to Henry originally about who his father was. Everyone was just so happy that Neal could be in Henry’s life and that he, coincidentally, happened to be from the Enchanted Forest. 

But Emma is tired of all the lying. She’s tired of tiptoeing around her parents because of their stupid hard-ons for Neal. She’s tired of Mary Margaret and David asking her to give Neal a chance. She knows David is doing it because he still doesn’t like or trust Hook, but Mary Margaret has deluded herself into thinking that because Neal was Emma’s first love, he’s also her True Love, and Emma hopes to God that isn’t true because what kind of True Love leaves you to rot in jail for their crime?

And Emma finally realizes why she’s been avoiding Neal since the Curse that Wasn’t. It’s not because she doesn’t want to choose between him and Hook. That was never a choice she needed to make. It’s because she doesn’t want to put up with all his bullshit, and specifically, having to explain to her parents exactly how much pain he caused her. Except he’s just asked her to explain to her family why him not knowing about Henry wasn’t his fault, when it is, in fact, all his fault. 

“Neal!” Emma says standing up from her seat so fast that her chair topples over. Mary Margaret audibly gasps. Regina smirks.

“It’s not your fault that you didn’t know about Henry?” Emma’s trying to sound calm and collected with just a hint of a raised voice, but instead it’s coming out angry and vindictive. But she doesn’t care. She’s played his games and she’s done. “Then tell them, Neal. Tell them why you didn’t know about Henry. Why I had to give him up.” Emma’s voice wavers. The room is completely silent. All eyes look from Emma to Neal. This is not how Emma wanted this to go down. Not at all, especially not with Henry there hanging on every word, but Neal has forced her hand.

“Well, I...I mean, that is…” Neal bumbles around for something to say. 

“Emma,” Mary Margaret cuts in trying to steer things back to Thanksgiving dinner, “maybe we should…”

“Could it be because I was in jail when I found out I was pregnant with Henry?” This is not news to anyone. Babe birthed behind bars is how the Storybrooke Mirror had worded it when she’d first come to town. “And why was I in jail, Neal? Hmmm? Why was I sentenced to 11 months in juvie?” Emma’s voice is getting louder and louder with each question asked. Neal seems to shrink back in his seat while Emma continues on her tirade.

“Could it be because you framed me for stealing watches that you stole? That you called in a tip for the police to catch me with one of them? That you did that because August had discovered you were from the Enchanted Forest and you were afraid to see your father again? Is that why you didn’t know Henry existed?” Emma is practically screaming now. She sees the looks of pity and then shame wash over Mary Margaret’s face, as anger starts to rise in David’s. She sees Regina’s smirk and Henry’s look of utter horror while looking at his father. Gold’s face, as usual, holds no emotion, but Belle is now in tears. 

And Emma does what she does best, she runs. 

She swears as she grabs her coat, hat, and scarf she hears David whisper to Mary Margaret, “I told you Thanksgiving would suck.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Emma feels like the debacle at Thanksgiving should have eased some of the tension she felt about Hook. She’s not worrying about what Neal thinks anymore, she’s not trying to appease everyone, and wasn’t that why she had started the whole Storybrooke Christmas Extravaganza in the first place?

She hasn’t seen Neal since Thanksgiving. If he wants to see Henry he either asks Regina or he has Belle ask Emma. Henry, on most occasions, does not want to see Neal though. After finding out exactly why Emma went to jail, Neal was ousted from the loft by David, who physically picked him up and threw him out. Neal at least looked chagrined, according to Mary Margaret, but did not try to explain himself whatsoever. Gold and Belle made a hasty exit after David threw Neal out on his ass.

_ The Rabbit Hole is the one place open on Thanksgiving, for those who don’t feel the need to celebrate a holiday that is not from their realm. And after leaving the sham that was Thanksgiving dinner, Emma needs a drink, badly.  _

_ She sidles up to the bar and orders a whiskey. _

_ Then another. _

_ And another. _

_ She feels pleasantly buzzed by the time Hook comes in. He sits down next to her and orders himself a glass of rum and sips it. He doesn’t say a word, just watches her. Emma’s pretty sure someone sent him to watch over her, make sure she doesn’t drink herself to death. She’s not sure who, but she’s pretty sure David’s feelings towards Hook are a lot friendlier now than they were before. _

_ “I guess you heard about Thanksgiving dinner?” Emma asks debating whether to get a fourth drink. The whiskey had been making her feel good, but now it is sitting like a stone in her belly.  _

_ “Nothing specific.” Hook says as he takes another sip of his rum. “Was just told that you might need a friend right now.” _

_ “Is that what we are, Hook? Friends?” She’s right in his face now, batting her eyelashes, and lowering her voice to sound more seductive.  _

_ “Emma.” He warns. He brings his glass up in between them as a barrier. “I promised I’d make sure you didn’t do anything stupid.” _

_ “And would kissing you be stupid?” Emma asks. She sees a hint of surprise in Hook’s eyes, but his features immediately change into the cocksure pirate. _

_ “With the amount you’ve had to drink and from what I gather happened at dinner,” he takes a breath, “yes, I believe it would be stupid.” He finishes his rum and sets the glass on the bar, then takes out some money and leaves it next to the glass. _

_ “I’m not going to force you to go home, but I know your parents are worried about you, Emma.” It’s that he calls her by her name and not Swan or love or the other myriad of nicknames he has for her that does it. She grabs some money from her coat pocket and leaves it next to Hook’s.  _

_ “I don’t want to go home yet.” She says slumping against Hook. He’s warm and he smells like leather and sea salt. He just nods and leads her out the door. _

_ They walk to the Jolly Roger. Emma starts to wonder if this was a bad idea and she should have just gone home and dealt with the consequences. The walk has sobered her up slightly, but not enough. _

_ They walk up the gangplank onto the ship and down the ladder into Hook’s quarters. Emma feels like she has butterflies bouncing around in her stomach, and she’s not sure if it’s nerves from being in Hook’s personal quarters, or if it’s from the three glasses of whiskey she consumed in less than 20 minutes. _

_ Hook seats her on the bed and heads over to the leather wingback chair that is at his desk. He gets out his flask and takes a swig and then offers her some. She shakes her head, she’s had too much as it is. _

_ “Care to talk about it, Swan?” He asks. _

_ “I outed Neal to everyone in my family and his family.” Emma says as quickly as she can. She tells Hook about meeting Neal when she was 16, about stealing the bug, about losing her virginity to him in the damn backseat, about the wanted poster. Hook’s expression grows serious when she tells him about the watches and the jail time. About finding out she was pregnant and then having to give Henry up because she was a 17-year-old kid in jail, all because she trusted the wrong person. Emma can see he’s reining in the anger, can see his jaw ticking and his fingers tapping. She sees in his eyes that he wants to pummel Neal within an inch of his life. But he doesn’t. His expression turns from anger to sorrow. _

_ “Of all the things I imagined for Bae and his future, him setting up the woman he purported to love for a crime and with child in jail was not one of them.” His expression has now become somber. Like he could have stopped what Neal did in some way. And Emma begins to realize that is exactly what he’s thinking. If things had ended differently for him and a young Bae in Neverland, none of this would have come to pass. And Emma intends to tell him this, except those butterflies in her stomach start climbing up into her throat and Hook sees it a few seconds before it actually happens and manages to get her something to vomit into (some kind of chamberpot she assumes). He holds her hair back while she pukes up all the whiskey and part of her Thanksgiving dinner and then tucks the blankets around her when she passes out from sheer exhaustion. _

_ When she awakes the next morning she sees Hook asleep in his desk chair. She quietly sneaks off the Jolly Roger and spends the rest of the day holed up in bed with a wicked hangover. _

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She and her parents talk. Really talk. Mary Margaret can’t apologize enough for trying to push her toward Neal. David expresses much interest in beating Neal to a pulp. And as much as Emma wants to run away, she stays. They talk all day and into the night, Emma telling them her story of growing up in the system and her life with Neal and after. David calls Ruby to bring over food at some point. Mary Margaret cries, a lot. But Emma has put everything out on the table. Mary Margaret and David also tell them about their pasts. About all the terrible things that occurred before the curse, but all the happy times they had. Emma has seen it in the book, but hearing first hand accounts is a whole other ball of wax. The fact that Mary Margaret and David forgave Regina and are working through things with her blows her mind. Mary Margaret’s optimism flabbergasts her, but Emma realizes that she’ll need that as well to live in the same town as Neal now.

Emma starts calling Mary Margaret and David Mom and Dad. She feels they’ve earned it after everything. David beams with pride. Mary Margaret cries, again.

The Storybrooke Christmas Extravaganza starts consuming much of Emma’s days. When she’s not patrolling or dealing with the denizens of the town (specifically Leroy and his drunken antics), she’s working on the placement of pop up shops for the Christmas Market. Mary Margaret has posted flyers around town looking for people to compete in a Christmas talent show. Both Emma and Mary Margaret have gone around to all the businesses around the center of town to coordinate Christmas lights and decorations. Regina finds a whole stash of Christmas decorations in one of the town hall supply cabinets (“It’s called supply and demand, Miss Swan. How else would a magical town have food and goods when no one can find us to deliver those things?” Regina scoffs at her, like it’s common knowledge how curses work) that they use to decorate the 15 foot fir tree David and Hook cut and brought back to town.

And speaking of Hook, Emma notices he’s keeping his distance after Thanksgiving. He has become good ‘mates’ with David though. He and David seem to hang out all the time and Emma is perfectly fine with that. At least, that’s what she keeps telling herself. She’s not jealous that her father is hanging out with the man she wants to kiss again... and maybe more. She tells herself that she’s too busy to start anything with Hook. Being sheriff and planning Christmas is too much on top of starting a possible relationship. 

Whoa, where did that come from?

Relationship? She just wants more kisses, right? Maybe an orgasm...or two? She doesn't ...She can’t want ….

But now that Neal is completely out of the picture, she doesn’t feel so guilty about wanting to be with Hook. She’s lost the guilt she had for kissing the ever-loving daylights out of him in Neverland. She hopes he still thinks of her every day like he promised he would when Pan’s curse was pressing upon them, even though she hasn’t given him any reason to. 

And it’s Christmas Eve, and Emma realizes that she wants to share that with Hook. She wants to see his eyes filled with wonder at all the lights, and the tree, and the present that she bought for him (yes, she bought him a present).

Everything has been going off without a hitch. The Christmas Market opened a week ago and Mary Margaret... _ Mom _ (she’s still getting used to that) made a speech and put Emma in the spotlight since this whole thing was her idea. And Emma has been laying low at the station again, but not to avoid anyone this time, no she’s just trying to understand her feelings for Hook.

Because she suddenly feels like Harry when he realizes he wants to be with Sally for the rest of his life. And she kind of wants that life to start now.

“Dad!” Emma yells grabbing her coat, scarf, and beanie from the station coat rack. David comes out from the office with a huge grin on his face. He’s still so happy every time she calls him Dad. “I’m going out. Please only call if it’s an emergency.” He nods. She’s almost out the door when she realizes his present is still in her desk. She plucks it from the drawer, shoving it into her coat pocket, and she can see the understanding dawning on her father’s face. Emma runs out before her dad can either deter her or congratulate her on what she’s about to do.

She runs over to Granny’s where Hook’s been staying since the snow started. With no way of heating the Jolly Roger, he needed a warm place to stay. And because Granny is wrapped around his little finger, she gave him a pretty good deal on housing as well. Of course with the Christmas market being right there, many people try to talk to her or tell her what a great job she did. But Emma doesn’t have time for that. Even Ruby gives a big, wolfish grin when Emma bypasses her to go directly to the stairwell.

Emma takes the stairs two at a time, barely noticing the garland strands and various decorations all around. She gets to Hook’s door and doesn’t even hesitate to knock. It’s in the two seconds that it takes him to answer the door that she starts wondering if she’s crazy.

He opens the door wearing just his leather pants and his linen shirt untucked. Emma notices bare feet, and eyes free of his sexy eyeliner. It strikes her how young he looks when he’s not all made up.

“Swan?” Hook asks concerned. “Has something happened?” She can see how this might look. Out of breath and knocking at his door. He probably thinks they’re under attack again. 

“No, nothing has happened. Storybrooke is still getting ready for Christmas.”

“Oh.” He says confused. “Well, I’m sure it will be great, Swan,” he says. He looks at her, waiting for an explanation for why she is there.

Emma realizes that she has no plan. She just walked out of the sheriff station with a hazy idea and a  _ When Harry met Sally _ quote in her head and expected… she’s not even sure what.

“Fuck it!” she says, surprising Hook, who gets even more surprised when she grabs his shirt and kisses the ever-loving daylights out of him. It’s similar to their Neverland kiss, a lot of heat and teeth, hands in each other’s hair, but this time it’s Hook who pulls away. 

“Emma” He says, sounding completely wrecked.

“Killian,” she says sounding just as wrecked. He jumps a little at the sound of his true name and dares to look at her. Emma hopes he can see the love shining in her eyes; she can definitely see it in his.

“Do you know why I started this whole Christmas Extravaganza?” she asks him. 

“I assumed it was so you didn’t have to deal with either myself of Henry’s father,” he says, grinning as her mouth drops. “Open book, love.” He smirks.

“Well, yes. That’s how it started out. But, Killian,” he shivers when she calls him that, “I realized that I never wanted Neal back. It wasn’t ever a contest. It’s always been you.” This time he surges forward and kisses her. The kiss is once again full of heat, but softer, more loving this time. 

“Am I dreaming?” Killian asks nipping at her bottom lip. Emma pinches his side and he yelps in surprise. “I guess not, minx.” 

“Look, Killian, I was sitting in the sheriff’s station and it just hit me. You’re who I want to be with. You’re who I wanted to be with even before Neal came back. I just-- I just had to figure it out for myself and it took a little longer than I expected. But I’m in now. All in.” Emma smiles at him.

Killian looks like he could be bowled over by a feather. He’s in complete and utter shock. “Swan, are you sure I’m not dreaming? Because this seems very much like the best dream I could be having.” Emma kisses him in response. He drags her into his room, kicking the door shut behind him.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next year, the Storybrooke Christmas Extravaganza is even bigger than it was the first year. David and Killian get a 20 foot tree this year and have an official tree lighting ceremony in the center of town, just like Rockefeller Center.

On Christmas morning, Mary Margaret, David, Regina, and Henry are not surprised to see Hook with them when they open presents. Emma remembers back to last year when they were surprised to see him, announcing their relationship to all on Christmas morning. He presents Emma with a carved wooden swan from Marco and August’s shop. He’d known the minute he saw it that he had to get it for her.

Emma gives him a glassy-eyed smile when he hands it to her, trying very hard not to let the tears fall. While her parents presents are heartfelt, she still has that feeling that they’re trying to make up for lost time. Killian’s present simply says he’s thinking of her.

“Thank you.” Emma says and gives him a kiss. “Here,” Emma pulls away but gives him another kiss on the cheek. She pulls a wrapped present out from behind her back. “Merry Christmas, Killian.”

Killian takes the present from Emma. He carefully unwraps the paper from the box, opens it up, and looks at the gift nestled in the tissue paper inside. 

It’s a compass, like the one he and Emma had to steal from the giant. A memory of their first adventure. It’s not the same one of course, but it’s the fact that she thought about it. He’s speechless.

“It’s so you can always find your way home.” Emma says kissing him again.

Emma can vaguely hear David say something about breakfast pastries and coffee being served, and she’s pretty sure she can hear Mary Margaret sniffling in the background, but she’s too busy looking at Killian.

“I think I finally found it with you, love.”


End file.
